Former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be restored “in the coming weeks,” the social media platforms’ parent company Meta said Wednesday.
A week ago, former US President Donald Trump pressured Meta to lift sanctions on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, banned a few years ago after inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol in Washington. As part of his 2024 campaign to regain access to the White House, the former president had asked Meta to reconsider his decision.
Restoring his accounts could give a boost to Trump, who announced in November thathe will run for the White House again in 2024. He has 34 million followers on Facebook and 23 million on Instagram. These are therefore essential for political advocacy and fundraising.
Donald Trump will soon no longer be banned from Meta’s social networks
” As a general rule, we do not want to stand in the way of open, public and democratic debate on Meta’s platforms – especially in the context of elections in democratic societies like the United States. wrote Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, in a blog post announcing the decision. ” The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying – the good, the bad and the ugly – so they can make informed choices at the ballot box “.
For example, a Meta spokesperson said Trump will be allowed to attack the 2020 election results without facing consequences from the company. However, if Trump were to cast doubt on an upcoming election, such as the 2024 presidential race, the social giant would take action. In these cases, Meta could limit the dissemination of the offending post or restrict access to advertising tools.
For the moment, it is not known exactly when Donald Trump will return to Facebook and Instagram. Meta simply announced that the sanctions will be lifted “ in the coming weeks “, without further details.
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